An assessment by the Bank of England that the worst of the global economic crisis is over makes for the lead in the Financial Times. As US interest rates were cut again last night, the bank's twice-yearly Financial Stability Report said that the credit markets "overstate the losses that will ultimately be felt by the financial system and the economy as a whole."

The optimistic outlook contrasts sharply with last month's publication from the International Monetary Fund, the FT remarks. Several commentators ponder on whether the worst is over. Times heavyweight economics columnist Anatole Kaletsky thinks so, with the US avoiding outright recession as the Fed rides to the rescue with rate cuts and bank and mortgage bailouts. The one uncertainty, however, is rising oil and commodity prices, but here he also sees hope, pointing out that the recent surge in food and energy prices may already be reversing - rice is down 10% from its recent high.

The Independent's Jeremy Warner is a tad more cautious. Although bargain hunters are sniffing around mortgage-backed securities - which plunged during the credit crisis - he warns: "A few green shoots seem to be poking up through the frozen soil of the credit crisis, but it is still too early to declare spring has sprung, let alone the return of summer."

Britain's plans to boost renewable energy suffered a setback when Shell decided to ditch plans for the world's largest offshore wind farm. The FT says the move is a blow to the government's plan to meet its renewable energy targets through wind turbines. Environmentalists tell the Guardian that the decision is a further sign that the company is retreating to hydrocarbons at a time when the price of oil has risen to $120 a barrel.

The Mirror carries an artist's drawing of Elizabeth Fritzl - the woman kept imprisoned underground by her father for 24 years - on its front page, looking much older than her age of 42. The Mirror quotes a source: "Her complexion belongs to someone much older - she could be 65. Her hair is grey, turning white. There's no spark left."

The Mail reports that Elizabeth taught the children to speak as best she could, from the television - their only contact with the outside world. All the papers carry details about the condition of Fritzl and the three children kept below ground. Stefan, 18, walks with a stoop because of the low ceiling, while Felix, 5, prefers to crawl but can walk upright if he wants to. They communicate by growling or cooing.

The Times reports that the Austrian police - which has been criticised for its handling of the case - seems determined to rule out an accomplice for Josef Ftritzl, but the paper points to clues of third-party involvement, such as how the imprisoned relatives disposed of the rubbish.

Deborah Orr wonders why Ftritzl allowed his sick daughter to be taken to hospital after behaving so monstrously for so long. "What was his switch, what flicked after 18 years of watching Kerstin, his first daughter - growing up in the dark, stunted in her growth, ill, deficient, unexercised, losing her teeth... and made him take her off to hospital, for the life he has ruined so callously to be saved?"

Editorialists and commentators make their choice in today's local and London's mayoral elections. Adrian Hamilton in the Independent plumps for the decent but unexciting Liberal Democrat candidate, former copper Brian Paddick. "He may lack charisma, but as a resident of Brixton, I feel he immeasurably improved the atmosphere and life of the place where he headed the local police. He's honest and competent." Ken Livingstone, he dismisses as a dissembler and a spendthrift, while Boris Johnson is described as just another Livingstone in rumpled clothing.

Stephen Glover, on the other hand, picks Johnson despite some reservations. "The beauty of the job of London mayor is that it has enough power for us to be able to work out whether Boris can hack it on the national stage, but not so much that he can wreak a lot of havoc if it turns he can't."

The Times leads on Gordon Brown's plans for an aggressive "relaunch" campaign with new policies, "a contrite and listening tone" and a fresh attempt to expose divisions within the Tories. Brown is expected to unveil measures on welfare, education reforms and crime in the Queen's speech at the end of the month, to show that Labour has not run out of steam. Evidence of Brown's contrite tone comes in his op-ed piece in the Mirror, where he says measures were taken to help pensioners and low-paid workers over the 10p tax rate row.

Lucy Kellaway, humourist and management columnist for the FT, offers advice on one of the most annoying things about office life. Her advice: nick it back or develop a stratagem. Her unwitting one is to spill so much food on hers that no one else wants it. Here's the Wrap's advice to Kelllaway: sellotape one of your business cards to the back of your chair - one of the best uses of a business card.

Meanwhile, office hygiene figures in the Guardian. A Which? Computing magazine survey found a keyboard that had to be removed because it was five times dirtier than a loo seat, and home to 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria. So no more eating at the keyboard.

Frank Lampard, who scored the penalty in Chelsea's narrow victory over Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final, is on the front as well as the back pages. The question for fans now is how to get Moscow for the all-English final with Manchester United. Diplomatic tensions between Britain and Russia can make it tough to get visas, the Guardian warns.